Legal Services in Chile: Find a Good Corporate Legal Firm

Anyone operating in the Chilean market or planning to launch there will need to find a good corporate legal firm to provide legal services in Chile.

Your corporate legal firm in Chile will have in-depth knowledge of the local regulatory framework and significant experience of working with investors, meaning they will be able to guarantee your compliance while also completing all administrative processes in the shortest time possible.

Depending on the level of support you will be seeking out, you may want to seek out legal services in Chile from a provider that offers a broader range of professional services, so that you can have all of your needs taken care of in one service agreement. 

Such a provider will be able to offer the likes of accounting and taxation, visa processing, and payroll outsourcing.  Where that provider offers professional employer organization (PEO) services, you may even be able to avoid registering a local entity.

Because when you hire via a PEO in Chile, those employees are officially contracted by the provider’s local entity, while you retain full control over their workloads and schedules. This can be a particularly attractive option to anyone planning a limited-scale engagement with the market, or who only needs to hire a handful of people.

If you are looking for more conventional support with company formation and ongoing operations, your legal firm in Chile will be able to provide you with invaluable advice, as well as helping you make valuable connections in the local business community.

Read on for more information on what makes it a strong prospect for investment, while details on how your legal firm in Chile will assist you are offered. Some advice is also provided on how to go about finding the right provider of legal services in Chile.

Or contact us now for more information on how we can support you entering and doing business in Chile. 

See Also: Business Formation Chile

Why investors choose Chile

Chile has the sixth-largest population in Latin America, as well as the fifth-largest economy by gross domestic product (GDP), which was registered at $252.9 billion in 2020 (all figures in USD). 

That followed a notable decline in GDP compared to the previous year, due to turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, however the World Bank has predicted that GDP will grow an impressive 10.6% during 2021.

While the dip in GDP saw a concomitant decrease in gross national income (GNI), that key indicator of general prosperity was still registered at $13,470 per capita in 2020, placing Chile as a high-income nation by standards established by the World Bank.

Chile is famed for its heavy promotion of global free trade, and the country maintains a considerable portfolio of free trade agreements with key economies around the world.

It is also a founding member of the Pacific Alliance — a ten-year-old economic integration initiative that includes Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, and which recently accepted Singapore as an associate member, in a sign of its ambitions to expand beyond the region.

Chile is known for its mining sector, with major reserves of copper, precious gems, and metals. It also has a significant agricultural sector, with fruits and nuts and seafood among its key exports. 

If you are operating in one of these industries, you will likely want to seek out the assistance of a legal firm in Chile with a track record of assisting investors with similar interests.

In the case of very specialized endeavors, such as mining or hydrocarbon extraction, you should hire a provider of legal services in Chile with proven knowledge of the specific legislation.

How your legal firm in Chile will be able to help

Your legal firm in Chile will be able to help you in the following areas:

Intellectual property: Your provider of legal services in Chile will have a history of helping clients protect their intellectual property. Whether you have a brand or product to protect from imposters, your chosen legal firm will be able to carry out trademark registration in Chile in the quickest time possible to maintain your competitive advantage.

Risk management: Your law firm in Chile will guarantee your compliance with all local regulations, meaning that you can operate safely in the knowledge that you will not face financial penalties or legal inconveniences, while maintaining your good standing in the eyes of local authorities.

Valuable connections: Your legal services provider will have well-established networks in both the business and legal communities in Chile which can be valuable to you in the future.

Key decisions: Your legal firm in Chile will be able to draw from its experience to offer useful advice on key decisions, such as which type of entity to establish or which local providers and partners to work with.

How to identify a good provider of legal services in Chile

When seeking out a provider of legal services in Chile, it is worth having the following in mind:  

Language capability: While your corporate legal firm will have to carry out all legal processes in Spanish, they will also need to be able to communicate effectively with you. So, if you do not speak Spanish, they will need to be proficient in either English, or any other language that you do speak.

Specialist knowledge: Certain sectors will be governed by specialist legal areas — be that mining, international commerce, real estate, or any other — and you will need to secure legal services in Chile from a provider with a track record of managing that legislation.

Client satisfaction: Your legal firm in Chile will have generated feedback from past clients that is freely available online. While you have to be wary of competitors potentially posting negative reviews, you can generally get a good impression of general client satisfaction that can inform your choice.

Online management: If you are going to be based outside of Chile, or spending a lot of time managing your operations remotely, you will want to hire a provider of legal services in Chile who is comfortable using an online task management and communication platform in order to be able to properly monitor them.

Biz Latin Hub can provide legal services in Chile

At Biz Latin Hub, we assist investors with legal services in Chile as part of a comprehensive portfolio of corporate support solutions that also includes company formation, accounting & taxation, hiring & PEO, and visa processing.

We have teams in place in 16 markets around Latin America and the Caribbean and trusted partners taking our coverage to almost every corner of the region, and we specialize in multi-jurisdiction market entry.

Contact us today to discuss how we can support you doing business in Chile.

Or read about our team and expert authors.